CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Issa had House Speaker John Boehner's backing on the citation. As noted above, he has not yet made a formal decision on the matter.

The reliably collectivist Talking Points Memo confirms:

Disputing a CBS report, a Republican leadership aide told TPM that House Speaker John Boehner has made “no decision” about whether the House will take up a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder. Republicans, led by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), have alleged that the Justice Department has obstructed a congressional probe into ATF’s botched ”Fast and Furious” operation.

“While there are very legitimate arguments to be made in favor of such an action, no decision has been made to move forward with one by the Speaker or by House Republican leaders,” the aide told TPM.

From this I think that we can reliably conclude that Issa and Grassley are still being road-blocked by John Boehner and the rest of the spineless GOP leadership. No doubt the blackmail photo of Boehner with Dolly, his "love ewe" has been made full advantage of.

I preface this review by freely admitting that I have known Roger Charles for about 16 years, ever since I got pulled into the private investigation of J.D. Cash and the Wilburn family of the Oklahoma City bombing. Roger is a retired LTC of Marines and an absolute indefatigable resource on the bombing, PATCON and other federal law enforcement and military scandals. No one, and I mean NO ONE possesses a more encyclopedic knowledge of the unanswered questions and federal arcana of the mystery wrapped in an enigma of the FBI's curious actions to distance the bombing, first from Elohim City and secondly from the FBI and its operation PATCON.

Thus, it is hard to believe that only a filtered version of Roger's decades-long fact gathering seems to have made it into this supposed "definitive treatment" by his co-author, Andrew Gumbel. It is apparent that Gumbel did all the writing with Roger just credited (and barely at times) with the research. It seems that the publisher is only providing Gumbel for the press campaign, although Charles is doing his best to do his own press interviews on local radio shows. The differences between the two are striking. Gumbel does his best to finesse some of the revelations in this book by ascribing any errors to incompetence, agency and inter-agency dysfunction and even seems to believe two of the most notorious liars in the case -- Kirk Lyons, Andreas Strassmeier, etc. He even manages to ignore facts that I'm certain Roger (who benefits from the papers of our co-worker in the private investigation, the late J.D. Cash) must have brought these facts up. Gumbel has simply ignored items like PATCON or the satellite surveillance of Elohim City, something that could not have happened without the approval of the National Command Authority. Nor does it mention the considerable cover-up input of people like Eric Holder or Janet Napolitano. (Items that the interviews I have heard of Roger since the book came out he, unlike Gumbel, is not shy of mentioning.)

Gumbel does mention me, without naming me, and the successful militia poster campaign to embarrass the DOJ into arresting Michael Brescia, referring to me as "an Alabama militia leader" in one spare mention and a footnote. Gumbel treats this as an incidental, not the motivating factor in persuading DOJ to get Brescia off the street (and to void the reward for John Doe II).

The book is worth-while in that it brings up many inconsistencies of the FBI's story and investigation, but it is evident that whatever contract Roger signed with the author and publisher did not give him much of an input into the final product. The definitive work on the Oklahoma City bombing has yet to be written.

The ATF "roundtable" yesterday was not a "dog and pony show" as some Second Amendment writers have alleged, but rather a "dog and dog show" with Diane Feinstein the head bitch of the pack getting serviced by her ATF lickspittles.

Well, yeah, of course. The significant part of the story is that the ATF dog is still licking its gun control masters' arses with cooked statistics out of context.

American property owners defending Korea Town during LA riots, twenty years ago this week. Note over-under shotgun. When the party opens, you go with what you've got. Here, the deer rifle's longer range and accuracy complements the shotgun's close range limitations. Which demonstrates another truth -- combat, even against rabble looters, is a team endeavor.

The modern armed citizenry of the United States is, by neglectful nature, not "regulated" in the term of the Founders, that is, they are not armed with weapons of common caliber, familiar in their use, and well-trained. Indeed, the most common weapon to be found in American gun owners' closets and gun safes is the ubiquitous 12 Gauge shotgun, some few of the type known as "combat shotguns" but most not. Yet it is also true that when a breakdown of public order occurs, it will be the shotgun that appears in large quantities. It behooves the armed citizen to think through and plan for that eventuality so that the rabbit, bird and deer shotguns are able, within a mix of other more capable firearms, of being effective against the most dangerous game -- two legged predators.

In the 90s, we would work with newbies to "combatize" their game guns, often just by the simple expedient of swapping barrels to something more effective in close quarters battle. Often this was as simple as finding a beat-up long game barrel for a Mossberg 500, for example, cutting it down to 18.5" and adding a shell carrier or two to facilitate rapid reloading.

But the fact of the matter is that when the party opens, you go with what you've got. Period. A little thought and pre-planning goes a long way.

After extremely bad night before last, I went to ER yesterday morning, but was not admitted because after the tests, I thought I could get by without it. Good decision. I had a full night's sleep last night and am feeling better today by far. Keep us in your prayers, this is a long haul deal.

I'm home now, have been since Sunday, but this is the first day I have felt like anything close to posting. For that, you have my sincere apologies. I have almost 8,000 emails in the box, so if one of them is yours, don't expect an answer anytime soon. I still have an IV in and am getting daily antibiotics, as well a drain to the abscess in my side and a feeding tube (still in but unused for now as I am eating fairly well). Docs tweaked my medicine yesterday so I've been feeling a bit better today. Home health care nurses look in on me from time to time to make sure I'm still alive. Keep those prayers coming. They're the most important thing I'm getting right now. And say a few for Rosey. She's been a real trooper through all this, working, caring for me and getting damn little sleep.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Why I no longer feel safe on Metro. Victim of racial attack on DC Metro blames system for doing what it is designed to do -- create a victim disarmament zone -- and for his own inability to defend himself against a punch. The one thing that this guy didn't have up front was situational awareness. And whose fault is that? Last time I was on the Metro, a guy settled into a seat across from me and began staring malevolently at me. About the third time I caught him at it, I smiled and said pleasantly, You know, if you did that in prison, it's a sign of aggression and could get you killed." He almost leaped to his feet and moved down the car. I'm not saying the the Post writer deserved to be slugged, but if you find yourself in a victim disarmament zone, you have a responsibility to substitute what tools you have at hand for your own defense and that of others. Citizens take responsibility. Period. Mine were situational awareness, a cane and a stainless steel ball point pen. Harsh? You tell me.

The Prime Minister secured a historic deal that will see the fighter aircraft dug up and shipped back to the UK almost 67 years after they were hidden more than 40-feet below ground amid fears of a Japanese occupation. . .

The plight of the buried aircraft came to Mr Cameron’s attention at the behest of a farmer from Scunthorpe, North Lincs, who is responsible for locating them at a former RAF base using radar imaging technology.

David Cundall, 62, spent 15 years doggedly searching for the planes, an exercise that involved 12 trips to Burma and cost him more than £130,000.

M Catharine Evans doesn't think Katie Pavlich gives enough credit to David and me over Gunwalker. I am in the middle of reading it and intend to critique the book next week. Pavlich is young and hungry so whatever flaws there are may be forgiven on that account if nothing else. I will say that M. Catharine's words made me choke up. The truth, though, is that Pavlich's book came along at the right time to help the issue from being forgotten so even if I got no mention in it I would still judge it an important contribution. I will confess, however, that I ground my teeth a bit when I heard Katie use the phrase "personnel is policy", without attribution, when referring to Dennis Burke during a FOX interview. She is young and I'm sure she will learn, especially when folks do the same thing to her. Experience is a powerful teacher -- and humbler -- for those smart enough to pay attention.

Well, you may have heard already but I have MRSA, so Kerodin's nasty friend Bill Nye may yet get his wish about me rotting from the inside out. Still, obviously, this morning is a better morning, or I wouldn't be posting at all. Keep me in your prayers.

Three people were killed and two were injured Friday in four shootings in north Tulsa, Okla., and police are searching for a lone suspected gunman, they said.

Tulsa police spokesman Capt. Jonathan Brooks said investigators were looking into whether the shootings may have been possible hate crimes.

"We're not absolutely certain, but a hate crime is a possibility. And we'll go with where the investigation leads us," he said.

All of the victims are black. The suspected shooter is a white male and is believed to be traveling in a white truck, said Brooks.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the victims knew each other, he said.

They range in age from 31 to 54. They were shot over the course of seven hours at four different street locations in the early morning, Brooks said.

Tulsa police formed a joint task force with the local FBI office as well as the U.S. Marshals Service. In the event the shootings turn out to be hate crimes, "they can help us pursue it," he said.

"This is not your standard homicide," said Brooks.

Back in the Nineties, I had a very revealing conversation with Dennis Mahon, who assured me that when the time was right him and his kameraden of White Aryan Resistance could start a racial civil war with ease. Since I'm still in the hospital and I don't have access to the tape of that phone call, I'll have to give you my best recollection.

"All we'll have to do is go into the ghetto and do some drive-bys, and then put on blackface and wigs and do the same to the white neighborhoods." Dennis, by the way, lived in -- and did most of his neo-Nazi recruiting in -- Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dennis is now in federal prison, but it could well be that his theory goes marching on.

Of all the indignities in this process is my conversion into Mr. Stinky, due to the fact that the drainage from my abscess is ever-present, over=powering and would gag a maggot with a head cold. This does not make me very popular, even with my family, whose visits are perforce shorter and shorter.

Woke up 0230 with stabbing pain in my left side just under the rib cage, like somebody was taking a Sykes-Fairbairn dagger and probing for my lung. Called Doc and he, like me, feared a pulmonary embolus. Made it into the ER in record time. CAT scan on lungs said no, praise the Lord. Further tests revealed that something is leaking internally, with probable infection. They stuck another drain in me and here I am sitting in Room 539 back at Trinity Montclair. Keep me in your prayers.

The tragedy of Operation Fast and Furious is the death of Brian Terry. The travesty is the witch hunt by Reps. Issa and Grassley who want to use Fast and Furious against the Obama administration while they distract from the genuine problem of gun running due to our lax gun sales laws.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

As exposed by Fox News and media watchdog site NewsBusters, the “Today” segment took this approach to a key part of the dispatcher call:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.

Here’s how the actual conversation went down:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.

The difference between what “Today” put on its air and the actual tape? Complete: In the “Today” version, Zimmerman volunteered that this person “looks black,” a sequence of events that would more readily paint Zimmerman as a racial profiler. In reality’s version, Zimmerman simply answered a question about the race of the person whom he was reporting to the police. Nothing prejudicial at all in responding to such an inquiry.

"Progress made under the shadow of the policeman's club is false progress."

I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe. I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air – that progress made under the shadow of the policeman's club is false progress, and of no permanent value. I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave. -- H.L. Mencken

On the efficacy of passive resistance in the face of the collectivist beast. . .

Had the Japanese got as far as India, Gandhi's theories of "passive resistance" would have floated down the Ganges River with his bayoneted, beheaded carcass. -- Mike Vanderboegh.

In the future . . .

When the histories are written, “National Rifle Association” will be cross-referenced with “Judenrat.” -- Mike Vanderboegh to Sebastian at "Snowflakes in Hell"

"Smash the bloody mirror."

If you find yourself through the looking glass, where the verities of the world you knew and loved no longer apply, there is only one thing to do. Knock the Red Queen on her ass, turn around, and smash the bloody mirror. -- Mike Vanderboegh

From Kurt Hoffman over at Armed and Safe.

"I believe that being despised by the despicable is as good as being admired by the admirable."

From long experience myself, I can only say, "You betcha."

"Only cowards dare cringe."

The fears of man are many. He fears the shadow of death and the closed doors of the future. He is afraid for his friends and for his sons and of the specter of tomorrow. All his life's journey he walks in the lonely corridors of his controlled fears, if he is a man. For only fools will strut, and only cowards dare cringe. -- James Warner Bellah, "Spanish Man's Grave" in Reveille, Curtis Publishing, 1947.

"We fight an enemy that never sleeps."

"As our enemies work bit by bit to deconstruct, we must work bit by bit to REconstruct. Be mindful where we should be. Set goals. We fight an enemy that never sleeps. We must learn to sleep less." -- Mike H. at What McAuliffe Said

"The Fate of Unborn Millions. . ."

"The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army-Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; that is all we can expect-We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die." -- George Washington to his troops before the Battle of Long Island.

"We will not go gently . . ."

This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can't be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won't be done. The Founders' Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.

But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.

And when we are gone, the scattered, free survivors hiding in the ruins of our once-great republic will sing of our deeds in forbidden songs, tending the flickering flame of individual liberty until it bursts forth again, as it must, generations later. We will live forever, like the Spartans at Thermopylae, in sacred memory.

-- Mike Vanderboegh, The Lessons of Mumbai:Death Cults, the "Socialism of Imbeciles" and Refusing to Submit, 1 December 2008

"A common language of resistance . . ."

"Colonial rebellions throughout the modern world have been acts of shared political imagination. Unless unhappy people develop the capacity to trust other unhappy people, protest remains a local affair easily silenced by traditional authority. Usually, however, a moment arrives when large numbers of men and women realize for the first time that they enjoy the support of strangers, ordinary people much like themselves who happen to live in distant places and whom under normal circumstances they would never meet. It is an intoxicating discovery. A common language of resistance suddenly opens to those who are most vulnerable to painful retribution the possibility of creating a new community. As the conviction of solidarity grows, parochial issues and aspirations merge imperceptibly with a compelling national agenda which only a short time before may have been the dream of only a few. For many Americans colonists this moment occurred late in the spring of 1774." -- T.H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence, Oxford University Press, 2004, p.1.